Chapter 282: Honoring Promises and Enforcing Righteousness

"Brother Yong Xiu, last time you said your wife liked this dried fruit very much, so I brought three pounds of it today."

In the Hanlin Academy, Yang Shen took a rare break. As soon as he came out of the study, he saw Ou Zanghua coming towards him with a wooden box.

"Thank you very much, Jingyu." Yang Shen took the wooden box and asked with a smile, "How come you have time to come to the Hanlin Academy today?"

"Of course I came here for Brother Yong Xiu!"

Ou Zanghua took Yang Shen to a ginkgo tree and said with a smile, "I'm here to ask Brother Yongxiu for an article."

"Commissioned work?"

Yang Shen was stunned and said, "I don't remember that the Honglu Temple has this business!"

Ou Zanghua said immediately: "It's like this. Our Honglu Temple is going to compile a magazine called "The Great Ming Dynasty's Natural Treasures", which will introduce the local customs and local specialties of various places in the Ming Dynasty from four aspects: clothing, food, scenery, and travel."

"What is a magazine?" Yang Shen asked curiously.

"It's a collection of entertaining articles such as novels and travelogues. I plan to publish four issues a year, and I can publish more issues when there are special events. For the first issue, I will naturally find the most famous talent in the city to write the articles. I want to achieve a sensational effect."

After listening to Ou Zanghua's explanation, Yang Shen pointed at Ou Zanghua and unceremoniously exposed his little thoughts: "Clothing, food, scenery, travel, I think your main focus is to promote the fabrics of Weiyang Palace!"

"Sure enough, I can't hide it from Brother Yongxiu." Ou Zanghua was stunned for a moment and said with a smile.

"Jingyu, even if the matter of Weiyang Palace is extremely important, you shouldn't get too deeply involved!"

Yang Shen sighed, looking at his friend who was two years younger than him, and reminded him earnestly in Chinese: "Officials should be upright in character and upright in conduct. If Jingyu keeps on spending money like this, how can he know whether he is driven by interests or driven by interests?"

"Thank you, Brother Yongxiu. I have my own considerations." Ou Zanghua bowed and expressed his sincere gratitude.

Seeing this, Yang Shen didn't know what to say. If he continued to persuade her, the friendship would easily capsize.

He smiled bitterly and said, "Jingyu, come and get the article in two days!"

"I knew that Brother Yong Xiu would help me." Ou Zanghua smiled with a somewhat honest look.

After chatting with Yang Shen for a while, Ou Zanghua stood up and said goodbye.

Looking at the time, I realized there was not much point in going back to the Honglu Temple, so I simply took a shortcut and went home early to rest.

However, just after he changed his clothes, Hua An told him that two guests had come to the mansion.

Ou Zanghua frowned slightly after hearing this and asked, "Are they the only two who have arrived?"

"Yes." Hua An nodded and reported to his master what happened this morning.

After hearing that the two friends from Meizhuang had already met with the Huashan Sect, Ou Zanghua felt like laughing for some reason. These four old otakus must have realized the seriousness of the problem!
After thinking for a while, Ou Zanghua said, "Please ask them to come to the study!"

"Yes!" Hua An responded and slowly retreated.

Ou Zanghua took out the Hengshan Yunwu Tea brought by Lao Liu to entertain the two friends who came from afar.

A moment later, Hua An came in with Tu Bi Weng and Dan Qingsheng.

Dan Qingsheng was about to greet him when he saw a painting hanging in the study. He immediately forgot about etiquette and walked to the painting to take a closer look. He said, "The brushwork is sophisticated, simple and profound, and it has a sense of plainness and innocence."

"Brother, come and see. The mountains in the distance seem to be there and not there. The brush is mostly used with the center of the brush, with very few side strokes. The ink color is very light, as if you are in a secluded place in the clouds and mist."

"This is the style of Huang Gongwang, one of the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty!"

"Ahem. Fourth brother, you are being rude." Tu Bi Weng coughed and reminded him.

When he came in, he also saw the "Zhongni Mengdian Tie" by the Tang Dynasty calligrapher Ouyang Xun and the "Thousand Character Classic" by Ouyang Tong, the son of Ouyang Xun. However, Ou Zanghua attracted him more, so he did not lose his composure like Dan Qingsheng.

"No problem," Ou Zanghua smiled and said softly, "I've heard that the four friends of Meizhuang are obsessed with music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Seeing them today, they are indeed as good as their reputation."

"Mr. Ou, my name is Dan Qingsheng. I failed to meet you when you passed by Hangzhou that year. This is the biggest regret of my life." Dan Qingsheng came back to his senses, stood in front of the "Nine Peaks in Snow", bowed to Ou Zanghua and said.

Tu Bi Weng also bowed and said, "I am Tu Bi Weng, nice to meet Mr. Ou. I saw your calligraphy in my elder brother's room that day and was deeply moved. I came here to ask for your advice and learn from you."

"No need to be so polite, please take a seat first!" After returning the greeting, Ou Zanghua motioned for the two to sit down and chat.

Dan Qingsheng walked over reluctantly, turning his head to look from time to time, just like a fisherman staring at the float, afraid that the fish would run away if he wasn't paying attention.

Upon seeing this, Ou Zanghua said, "You'd better go over and take a look!" "No, no." Dan Qingsheng smiled embarrassedly and was finally able to sit down properly.

Tu Bi Weng took out a letter from his pocket, handed it to Ou Zanghua and said, "Mr. Ou, this is what my elder brother asked us to bring to you."

"Thank you for your hard work!" Ou Zanghua opened the letter and began to read it. His expression changed from casual at the beginning to serious gradually.

In his heart, Huang Zhonggong first thanked Ou Zanghua for the invitation, then changed the tone and said that he was over sixty years old and could not travel long distances, so he would not come.

If it were just these contents, it would be fine. However, Huang Zhonggong later focused on introducing his two sworn brothers, who were obsessed with calligraphy and painting but were not bad people by nature.

Tu Bi Weng is serious and perseverant in his work, Dan Qingsheng is generous and has no ulterior motives. Both of them are highly skilled in martial arts and are people who keep their promises.

Then he wrote, "If there is someone in the sky, loyalty is his clothes and trust is his skirt."

Ou Zanghua understood that in addition to asking him to take care of his two brothers, Huang Zhonggong was also expressing his inner beliefs.

As for the place called Meizhuang, before Linghu Chong and his companions went there, in the twelve years that had passed, Dongfang Bubai had only sent people to inspect it a few times.

It was not until Ren Woxing became famous in the martial arts world that Dongfang Bubai reacted.

Faced with Ren Woxing's coercion and inducement, Huang Zhonggong chose to die bravely, rather than taking the "Three Corpses Brain Pill" like his three brothers did to show his submission to Ren Woxing.

From this we can see that in Huang Zhonggong's heart, some things are more important than life.

"Mr. Ou, did your elder brother say anything?" Seeing that Ou Zanghua looked a little strange, Tu Bi Weng couldn't help but ask.

"Have you two met the disciples of Huashan Sword Sect and Qi Sect in the Ou Mansion?" Ou Zanghua put down the letter and asked while pouring tea.

The two looked at each other and nodded silently.

Ou Zanghua pushed the teacup to the two of them and continued to ask, "Recently, the underworld has been turbulent, and many things have happened. Many people from all walks of life have gathered together. Don't you find it strange?"

"This." Tu Bi Weng said, "My two brothers did hear some rumors on the way to the capital, but we didn't pay much attention to it."

"I see," Ou Zanghua nodded, and then said, "I guess the person you imprisoned in the dungeon has escaped."

"impossible!"

Dan Qingsheng immediately objected, "My second brother went in to check several times, and the man was always inside."

"How do you know that the person locked up is the original person?" Ou Zanghua looked at Dan Qingsheng and asked calmly.

Ou Zanghua tapped some water, wrote a word on the table, and said, "Then you should know that there is no Feng Erzhong in Huashan, but only one abandoned disciple Linghu Chong. The word "Erzhong" means "Chong". This person was in Suzhou in May. His swordsmanship is unrestrained and free and unrestrained. I admire it very much."

Dan Qingsheng asked in confusion: "This Linghu Chong, I heard that he is the chief disciple of Huashan Sect! But why did he do this? Aren't the Five Mountains Sword Sect and the Divine Sect irreconcilable?"

After saying that, he realized that something was wrong and quickly added: "We only exchanged calligraphy and painting with Mr. Ou, not martial arts, so we would not act like this."

“This is what I can’t figure out.” Ou Zanghua smiled and said, “Maybe he was cheated!”

Dan Qingsheng and Tu Biweng looked at each other and felt that Ou Zanghua's explanation was very perfunctory.
Suddenly, Tu Bi Weng came back to his senses, looked at Ou Zanghua and said, "Mr. Ou means that Big Brother is helping us fill this big hole!"

"He can't fill it up, and you four together can't fill it up either." Ou Zanghua shook his head and said with some sadness: "He just did what a big brother should do."

Bald Pen Mang stood up suddenly, bowed and said: "Thank you Mr. Ou for your guidance, I'm leaving now!"

Ou Zanghua was somewhat helpless and had to speak up to stop them, saying, "It's been a month since you left Plum Manor. It will take at least 20 days to return from the capital. It's too late."

"Then what should I do?" Tu Bi Weng was stunned and asked Ou Zanghua.

"Don't let your elder brother down."

Tu Bi Weng's eyes darkened and he sat down, crying silently.

Dan Qingsheng gritted his teeth, still not believing it, so he shook his head and said, "It's impossible. Brother Feng is a generous person who knows wine. He can't be that bad."

"Even his name is fake, why do you still think he is a good person?" Tu Bi Weng looked up at his fourth brother and asked coldly.

Dan Qingsheng opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Ou Zanghua also sighed and said, "You two should stay in the Ou Mansion first, calm down, and then think about the future. As for Meizhuang, I will ask someone to check it out. If it's in time, it would be the best."

"Thank you, Mr. Ou!" After hearing this, the two of them had no better ideas, so they accepted the proposal first.
(End of this chapter)